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Spoiling for a Fight 1st Edition
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More Americans now identify as political independents than as either Democrats or Republicans. Tired of the two-party gridlock, the pandering, and the lack of vision, they've turned in increasing numbers to independent and third-party candidates. In 1998, for the first time in decades, a third-party candidate who was not a refugee from one of the two major parties, Jesse Ventura, won election to state-wide office, as the governor of Minnesota. In 2000, the public was riveted by the Reform Party's implosion over Patrick Buchanan's presidential candidacy and by Ralph Nader's Green Party run, which infuriated many Democrats but energized hundreds of thousands of disaffected voters in stadium-sized super-rallies.What are the prospects for new third-party efforts? Combining the close-in, personal reporting and learned analysis one can only get by covering this beat for years, Micah L. Sifry's. Spoiling for a Fight exposes both the unfair obstacles and the viable opportunities facing today's leading independent parties. Third-party candidates continue be denied a fighting chance by discriminatory ballot access, unequal campaign financing, winner-take-all races, and derisive media coverage. Yet, after years of grassroots organizing, third parties are making major inroads. At the local level, efforts like Chicago's New Party and New York's Working Families Party have upset urban political machines while gaining positions on county councils and school boards. Third-party activists are true believers in democracy, and if America's closed two-party system is ever to be reformed, it will be thanks to their efforts
- ISBN-100415931436
- ISBN-13978-0415931434
- Edition1st
- Publication dateApril 8, 2002
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.98 x 0.87 x 9.02 inches
- Print length386 pages
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2002This book contains a riveting history of the Reform Party during the period 1996-2000. It seems to be the only book which has this history. It tells how Ross Perot lost control of the Reform Party to Pat Buchanan.
There's plenty of other fascinating material in the book also, especially about the Green Party, and new material about how Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998, and about how a majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are hostile to new and minor political parties (this conclusion is clear from Sifry's account of the Forbes debate decision, and the Twin Cities Area decision about "fusion").
- Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2008This book is an excellent, if anecdotal, analysis of the third party political movements that have arose during the last twenty years. Sifry is perceptive and mostly objective journalist who provides an apparently accurate anatomy of the fortunes of third parties starting with Jessie Ventura's unlikely campaign for Governor. He is especially good in his dissection of the Reform Party (Ross Perot) and the Green Party (Ralph Nader) both of which gained national prominence briefly. In the end the U.S. political `establishment' consisting of mainstream media, the established parties and the special interests supporting both proved to be too formidable for these pesky outsiders.
Yet as Sifry demonstrates that is not the whole story. The third parties of Perot and to a lesser extent Nader were built on very fragile foundations. Perot in the end did much to undermine his own chances because of his desire for complete party control and paranoia over losing that control. Nader did not have the charisma to match his unflinching honesty and dedication. Both the Reform Party and the Green Party failed to develop a truly compelling national vision and a cadre of dedicated zealots to promote that vision. This made both vulnerable to the pressures of the established parties that do offer national visions, however flawed, and cadres of true believers to promote their visions.
Sifry is clearly in sympathy with the idea of a third party challenger to the entrenched interests represented by both Democrats and Republicans (which he refers to as the "Duopoly"). He attempts to point the way to actually establishing a viable third party, but this reader was left thinking that his heart was just not in it. There are enormous odds against the formation of a viable third party that would actually threaten the two parties' hold on power. It would take an unlikely confluence of strong leadership, good people, long term planning and above all a compelling vision to build a viable third party. All in all this is a book to ponder and discuss.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2002Having read Micah Sifry's articles for years in the Nation, I couldn't wait for this book to come out. And out it came! This book hits exactly the right notes, and is filled with information. If you care about politics and the way that politics effects your life, buy this book and read it NOW! It will change your life.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2008This is, I am pretty sure, the only thing close to a complete history of third parties in U.S. electoral politics in the 20th century. I picked this one up because of a paper I was writing, but it was so interesting, I ended up reading the whole thing.
The Green and Reform Parties and especially Nader's 2000 run take up a lot of this book. But there is still a lot of room for other, smaller, groups. (Though you will see more left than right. The Labor Party and the Working Families Party figure relatively prominently, the Libertarian party, not so much.) There is also plenty of smart thinking on what the domination of electoral politics by two parties means for the way elections play out. If you're a political junkie like me, it's a good read.
